Exhibitions
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→ SPLAM
The product of a multi-year creative collaboration between Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and University of Michigan Taubman College, led by professors Tsz Yan Ng and Wes McGee, the SPLAM [SPatial LAMinated timber] pavilion showcased the potential for prefabricated timber framing panels using robotic technology to advance more sustainable and efficient methods of design and construction.
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“Life Beyond Earth”, a powerful installation that brought to life Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and the European Space Agency’s concept of a Moon Village, launched at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The installation transported visitors to a lunar settlement in the near future—a testing ground for new ways of living in extreme environments and a model for global collaboration in outer space.
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→ Decalogue for Space Architecture
SOM’s specially commissioned installation examined ten themes central to designing permanent habitats in space, as part of the International Exhibition “Unknown Unknowns.”
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) presented one of four specially commissioned installations at the center of the 2022 Triennale Milano International Exhibition. “Unknown Unknowns: An Introduction to Mysteries,” looked beyond the known territory of planet Earth. SOM’s installation, titled “Decalogue for Space Architecture,” continued a line of inquiry that the firm has pursued through years of research: How can we design the conditions for humans to thrive in outer space?
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Bio-Block™ Spiral opened to the public at 167 Green Street for the fifth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB5). Constructed out of algae-based Bio-Blocks™ developed in partnership with Prometheus Materials, the Bio-Block Spiral echoed the shell-like material by creating a public space for gathering and contemplation in Chicago’s Fulton Market District.
Reflecting on this Biennial theme, #ThisisaRehearsal, Bio-Block Spiral demonstrated a change-making collaboration across construction, fabrication, and design industries as a precursor for a healthier world.
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Working with Urban Rivers and Omni Ecosystems, SOM designed a never-before-seen exhibit for the Seoul Biennale on Architecture and Urbanism that showcased the layers of Chicago’s Wild Mile. The exhibit explored the history of the Chicago River and how the Wild Mile is increasing biodiversity, cleaning the river, and reviving the relationship between humans and nature through reclamation.